Former Santa Monica Studio co-head and director of product development Megan Morgan Juinio believes major studios and publishers need to diversify their product lineup by funding more double-A, A-game and indie titles to better serve gamers.
Speaking to game developer at Gamescom Asia, Morgan Juinio, who left the God of War Santa Monica creator in June after more than a decade at the Sony-owned studio, explained that the biggest players cannot continue to lay all their eggs in the increasingly expensive triple-A basket if there is any hope of breaking the ongoing cycle of layoffs. project cancellations and studio closures have become the new normal.
“I think right now we all have an opportunity, at every level, to really look at the strategic long term – and that could be five or ten years -[in order to course correct] because of the 'seize the moment' decisions that were made as a result of the pandemic,” says Morgan Juinio. She explains that this doesn't mean putting major projects on hold, and believes there's still a lot of value (both creative and financial) in moving forward with new projects in true blockbusters like Call of Duty and God of War because “the payoff is potentially so big.”
However, she believes companies with the deepest pockets need to invest more in smaller games. “I also think there's an opportunity for these big players to also try to diversify into Double-A and Single-A and then maybe the indies as well, right? And what size, shape or form does it take? I don't know […] but I think we need to move beyond the knee-jerk reaction to the pandemic and the couple of years after that and really think about who do we want to be? What product do we want to release? We need to think carefully about how we achieve this,” she continues.
“I inherently believe in the power of creativity and innovation in our industry.”
Referring to recent releases such as Astro Bot And Split fictionMorgan Junio says there's clearly an appetite and acceptance for games that avoid big-budget conventions such as long games and giant production runs. Case in point: at GDC this year we learned that Astro Bot was only in development for about three and a half years.
Notably, she also believes that players are drawn to these games because they often feature more innovation than their comparatively expensive counterparts. “I believe we should make great video games,” she adds. “It doesn’t matter what shape. I think gamers have now become a little desensitized to beautiful graphics, size, scale and capabilities. It's almost a given, isn't it? If a game isn't fun, it doesn't matter how beautiful it is. If a game is not engaging and does not create some kind of hook, then it will not interest players.”
Ultimately, Morgan Juinio believes the industry will find a way out of the current storm, because anyone who decides to dedicate their life to making video games simply won't accept the status quo. “I'm a perennial glass-half-full thinker, and I think the bleak situation may continue,” says Morgan, who understands why the ongoing wave of mass layoffs and investments by dubious entities such as the Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund is alarming.
However, she also believes there is room for hope.
“I think the very nature of who we are as developers and creators will not allow this to remain doom and gloom. They won’t accept this state of the world,” she says. “However, does this mean that we are going to go back to the types of games that came out five years ago or in pre-pandemic times? No. I think it will be something new. We don't know what it is yet, but I inherently believe in the power of creativity and innovation in our industry. And I believe that even if the forces that are structurally changed or completely upended, the demand for great games still exists.”
The game developer will be attending Gamescom Asia x Thai Game Show 2025 as a media partner, with tickets and accommodation covered by the event organizers.
